The Temptation of Christ by Nancy Leigh Demoss

You remember that scene where Edmund stumbles into Narnia through the wardrobe, and he ends up lost and alone in a cold, snowy forest? Then all of a sudden he hears the sound of bells in the distance, and soon, around the corner, comes a sleigh. Sitting on top of that sleigh is--who? The White Witch. The White Witch pulls over, she stops to talk to Edmund, and as she does, she remembers this ancient prophecy that her reign and her life will be over when two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve sit enthroned at Cair Paravel.

So, pretending to be friendly, she invites Edmund to join her in her sleigh, and she asks him if he would like something to eat. Edmund requests Turkish Delight, which she magically produces. What Edmund doesn't know is that the Turkish Delight is enchanted, and whoever tastes it is going to want more and more. They won't be satisfied with just a little bit.

So the Witch promises to give him more candy if he'll bring his sisters and brother to her house. She also offers to make Edmund a prince and tells him that someday, when she is gone, he will be the king. Well, Edmund's desires for power and for pleasure lead him to yield to the witch's temptation, and ultimately to betray his sisters and brother.

Leslie: This is Revive Our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss for Monday, March 21.

We've been in a rich study called The Incomparable Christ, based on a book by Oswald Sanders. We'll send you a copy when you donate any amount to the ministry of Revive Our Hearts. Just visit ReviveOurHearts.com for the details.

The theme Nancy mentioned from The Chronicles of Narnia leads us to an important discussion.

Nancy: As I think about that story, it brings to mind an important scene in the life of the Lord Jesus. We're talking in this series about The Incomparable Christ, and if you're following along in the book called The Incomparable Christ by Oswald Sanders, we're looking today at chapter 8 on "The Temptation of Christ."

The temptation of Christ has some parallels to the witch's temptation of Edmund, but thankfully, the temptation of Christ had a very different outcome. So I want to ask you, if you're following along in your Bible, to turn to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 4.

Now the temptation of Christ is told in all three of what we call the synoptic gospels--Matthew, Mark, and Luke--and we'll be bouncing back and forth between those a little bit in this session, but mostly we're going to follow along in Matthew's account in Matthew chapter 4. We begin reading in verse 1:

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread" (vv. 1-3). 

Let me just stop there and make a few comments. "Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness"--then. If you read Mark's account, it says "immediately"--then. What is this following? Immediately after what? Then--after what?

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Source: ReviveOurHearts.com